Small Epiphany
Four pounds gone in the space of a week and already I'm feeling lighter of body and lighter of thought. That makes eight pounds vanished in total - a little over half a stone! Slimming World being the sort of institution it is, I have a nice little go-faster sticker announcing my success to all who I show my diet book to; a shiny, sticky pat on the back. Maybe I'll post a picture of it...
It's a very useful institution, Slimming World. Or, more accurately, it works for me. I should probably admit that, thanks to Slimming World (and a deal of will-power) I lost 7.5 stone a few years ago. Then I got comfortable, got a girlfriend, got a job that meant I had to work from home and slowly, much of the weight I'd lost started to creep back on.
The only thing I dislike about the weekly weigh ins is the fact that they insist on calling the sort of treats one must wean oneself off 'Syns'. The 'y' does not excuse the tedious religious overtones. But c'est la vie - it works and I can put up with it if it means that I am thin again - despite a friend whom I've not seen for a while coming up to me last night and telling me it's wonderful that I've put a bit of weight on, as she didn't like the thin me. This is not the sort of friendship one needs when one is knackered the whole time from being overweight...
I know from experience that when I'm slim, I'm more productive and more easily excited by the prospect of going outdoors, so going back to Slimming World is the best thing I can do. That and ignoring utterly the people who tell me they prefer me the way I don't want to be. The fact is that I know what I want from my body and I know now what I can achieve if I persevere. I will not let low self-expectation and esteem - nor the fact that some people like sluggish, cuddly men - to get in my way again!
Small Epiphany on the Road to Slimming World
Stern and creaking the fat man walks
up the hill to his slimming class.
It will take time before he talks,
time and a refilled water glassbut he’s decreasing, that’s for sure.
The fat is sliding from his frame
though his heart keeps falling through the floor
and his lungs refuse to play the game.“It’s perseverance and resolve,”
he tells himself each time he goes,
“and a thousand pizzas to dissolve.
Keep at it kid until it shows!”A small girl from a window calls:
“Are you a monk? Nice bald patch mate!”
He flicks a V sign, barely stalls,
thinks: ‘She said nothing of my weight!’
